Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates to the field of automatic feeding and sorting of items or articles. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to the automated singulation of articles obtained from a container.
Description of the Related Art
Articles, such as items of mail, are frequently provided in bulk and must be sorted into individual articles or items for processing or routing. If the stack of articles in the feeder is not positioned correctly, or if it slumps, the singulation process for sorting individual articles may be slowed down or hampered with errors, such as picking more than one article at a time. Articles are often provided in bulk containers, whose contents or fullness can be difficult to predict. As containers are unloaded onto a sorting apparatus, the articles both on the sorting apparatus and in the container may slump, or fall into a position which is not ideal for singulation.